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Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
F1 Saudi Arabian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 and Qualifying
Saturday's Formula 1 action from the Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Max Verstappen took a clean sweep of top spot in Friday’s two practice sessions, with Red Bull looking dominant once again after its 1-2 in the Bahrain Grand Prix opener.
All eyes will be on what its rivals can do in response at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and whether Aston Martin can maintain its surprise start having seen Fernando Alonso finish on the podium in the opener.
Charles Leclerc goes into the Saudi race with a 10-place grid penalty due to taking his third set of control electronics for his Ferrari after his Bahrain retirement.
Saudi Arabian GP final practice begins at 1:30pm GMT followed by qualifying at 5:00pm GMT to decide the starting grid for the race on Sunday at 5:00pm GMT.
By: Haydn Cobb, Stephen Lickorish, James Newbold
Stopped
Summary
- Perez takes Saudi Arabian GP pole from Leclerc - the Ferrari driver will start 12th after serving grid penalty
- Leclerc's penalty puts Alonso on the front row for Aston Martin
- Verstappen suffers driveshaft failure in Q2 and qualifies 15th
- Out in Q2: P11 Hulkenberg, P12 Zhou, P13 Magnussen, P14 Bottas, P15 Verstappen
- Out in Q1: P16 Tsunoda, P17 Albon, P18 de Vries, P19 Norris, P20 Sargeant
Leaderboard
- Perez, Red Bull, 1m28.265s
- Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m28.420s
- Alonso, Aston Martin, 1m28.730s
- Russell, Mercedes, 1m28.857s
- Sainz, Ferrari, 1m28.931s
- Stroll, Aston Martin, 1m28.945s
- Ocon, Alpine, 1m29.078s
- Hamilton, Mercedes, 1m29.223s
- Piastri, McLaren, 1m29.243s
- Gasly, Alpine, 1m29.357s
It's all set up very intriguingly tomorrow's race. Will Verstappen be able to fight through to the front from 15th? What can Alonso do into Turn 1? Will the Jeddah circuit's walls catch more drivers out? Join us from just before 5pm UK time for all the build-up to the race. Bye for now.
Breaking news
So, as we draw breath now, here's our round-up of that eventful qualifying: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-saudi-arabian-gp-perez-clinches-pole-verstappen-out-driveshaft-issue/10445461/
Wow, what a session that ended up being! It looked like being a Red Bull walkover but driveshaft drama for Verstappen and some improved Ferrari pace meant it was far from straightforward.
Mixed feelings for Leclerc as he describes Red Bull as being on "a different planet" but he's still happy with the lap time he was able to produce. Will be fascinating to see him fighting through from 12th, with Verstappen three places back.
Hamilton will be disappointed not to improve on the second run and will start down in seventh. He is four tenths adrift of team-mate Russell and will be thinking what might have been.
Perez clearly likes this circuit as he makes it two consecutive poles in Saudi Arabia. But with Alonso and Russell nipping at his heels, it could be an interesting Turn 1!
So Leclerc finishes second to Perez, but will fall to 12th putting Alonso back onto the front row. Russell will be third, from Sainz, Stroll, Ocon, Hamilton, Piastri and Gasly.
Leclerc goes up to second and pips Alonso and closes the gap to two tenths to Perez, but it's pole for the Red Bull driver. There's still something for the Milton Keynes team to celebrate, but not the driver you would've expected.
Hamilton, meanwhile, doesn't improve and is dumped down to seventh. Stroll has a huge slide at the end of the lap and therefore only makes it ip to sixth.
However, Stroll goes purple in sector one!
And he's not able to deliver it! He improves to second with a 1m28.730s but that's still half a second behind Perez's earlier effort.
Alonso is a tenth down on Perez after the first two sectors, it's going to need something special in the final sector here!
It seems as if Sainz is on a different strategy and perhaps this was designed to be a warm-up lap anyway and the Merc exiting the pits right in front of him was not as disastrous as it first seemed.
Sainz is badly blocked by one of the Mercedes drivers on his lap and that's going to cost him dear.
Right, here we go, Alonso and the Ferraris head back out for their final efforts. Can anyone get even close to that time from Perez?
Piastri, perhaps unsurprisingly, is slowest of all the runners, while Stroll climbs up to fifth, relegating Hamilton to sixth.
Russell, meanwhile, is concerned about damage to the floor after an aggressive kerb strike, so that could lead to him slipping down the leaderboard, perhaps.
Piastri and Stroll are now out, presumably to set their one and only times of the session.
That time is half a second quicker than Leclerc and he's not even fastest in the first sector. But we know it was a bit of a scrappy lap for Alonso so there could be more pace for him to come.
Stopwatch
And there go Perez unleashes a 1m28.265s! Verstappen may be out, but Red Bull is far from out of contention here!
Perez isn't purple in sector one, but he is in sector two!
Hamilton then jumps up to third, but it's Russell who then goes up to second, just a tenth slower than Leclerc! This is getting very close!
Ocon goes third, while Sainz is quite a distant fourth
Stopwatch
It's a 1m28.925s for Alonso and he's displaced by Leclerc on a 1m28.757s!
Alonso is giving his all here as he gets oh-so-close to the barriers! Let's see what the Aston driver can manage.
Perez and the Mercedes cars also head out leaving just Stroll and Piastri in the pits.
Another queue of cars head out straightaway with Alonso, the Ferraris and Alpines heading out early.
Green flag
Right, here we go. Game on! Let the battle for pole commence.
Breaking news
Red Bull has confirmed it was a driveshaft problem for Verstappen in that session, which has left him down in 15th on the grid.
Right, so who's in this battle for pole? Perez is probably still the favourite but could Alonso get a first F1 pole in approaching 11 years? What a story that would be! Then we still don't really know what the Ferraris can manage but worth remembering Leclerc has a 10-place grid penalty.
Quote
"Sorry for the unnecessary stress," says a thoughtful Sainz after his wide moment put his progress in jeopardy.